The Frog

This is a great game that has been adapted from a Friday night game that I used to play with friends. I call it The Frog it's probably known by other names. I start by writing a sentence on the board. However you have to choose the sentence carefully. It should have 8 syllables preferable in 2 syllable blocks. some examples I have enjoyed using:

I like / to eat / ice cream / yum yum

I went / to the / pet store / today

I go / to school / 5 days / a week

generally I like to have something funny on the end. The original way I learnt this and first started teaching it was: The frog / jumped in / the lake / KABOOM. I had the students who had to say kaboom say it really really loud.

How to play

This can be confusing so bare with me please. Each student takes turns at saying 1 of the 2 syllable sections. i.e the first one say I like, the next - to eat, the next ice cream and the 4th yum yum. simple right. Well now you've completed the phrase 1 time the number of times each section is said increases. So the 5th and 6th students both say I like the 7th and 8th students say  to eat etc. After the 2 students finish with yum yum it increases to 3 times that each syllable has to be said.

If a student makes a mistake, takes too long etc. they sit down and the game start from the beginning again.

It will take a bit for the students to get this but when they do you will see that even the shyest and lease confident students bouncing up and down waiting for their turn to say the correct word. I see my students all the time mumbling the correct words under their breath keeping in pace with the right words. And normally every time someone gets the words wrong the students a laughing and correcting them!

The best thing about the game is that it is so flexible with the sentences you can use. The only limit is how you can make it fit into the syllable pattern.